


And yet, somehow, a happier ending

by liv_k



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Deathfic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet, Gen, It can be read either as platonic or romantic, no explicit romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 21:15:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19753954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liv_k/pseuds/liv_k
Summary: He had always known that there would be no happy ending waiting for them at the end of the road. And yet, somehow, he felt that this was happier than what could have been.





	And yet, somehow, a happier ending

_"[...] everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth."  
_(G. García Márquez, _One Hundred Years of Solitude_ )

Obi-Wan held Anakin with what strength he had left as they stumbled over the entrance of the cave.

They were safe. Slowly, gently, he allowed them both to fall on the cold bed of moist earth and musk. The sound of dripping water drifting from somewhere unseen mingled with their harsh, broken gasps as they lay there still, devastated minds struggling to grasp the unthinkable.

Behind them, beyond the curtain of vines, the sunlight they had left cast its merciless light on the men they had killed.

Theirmen.

“Obi-Wan… I can’t –”

“Hush.” It was selfish, maybe, but Obi-Wan couldn’t bear to hear the strain in Anakin’s voice, not when he sounded so young. Words were of no use here. He reached out with one arm. “Come here.”

His presence comforting and alive even as he was shaken by unstoppable tremors, Anakin was still warm as he huddled against Obi-Wan’s chest, nestling his face between neck and shoulder.

“They are dying,” he murmured, his voice a faint breath on collarbone. “The Force…”

“I know.” Obi-Wan carded his fingers through Anakin’s hair; they came out wet, sticky, and the heart protested against what the mind knew.

_But he is so young._

“They fired on us. Rex -”

“I know.” Suddenly, speaking became the hardest thing he had ever done. Something heavy settled in his throat, something painful. He forced himself to swallow. “Focus on us, Anakin. On the here and now.”

“But there is so much pain.”

And there was. There was despair, and the death of the Jedi and maybe the end of the world, and there were anger and grief, and deep shameful failure.

But here, in the cave, there was love, and light, and there was _them_. 

He felt lighter somehow, floating away from his body and his pain, from his guilt and his grief, suspended with Anakin in a warm starless sky.

Silence stretched, but Anakin still wouldn't learn. It wasn't in him to let go.

“Obi-Wan… Master?”

“Yes?”

“There are too many of them. What are we going to do?”

Obi-Wan chuckled – or sobbed. It was a soft, bittersweet sound, as warm as the wetness pooling around them both. With effort, he tilted his head to drop a kiss on Anakin’s hairline. It tasted of sweat and blood. 

“Anakin. Padawan." Just the faintest sigh from quivering lips. "We are going to die.”

Anakin stiffened in his arms. The Force warped around them: for a moment he was again Anakin Skywalker, the Hero With No Fear, the one who would never go down without a fight.

Obi-Wan’s eyes stung, but he didn’t even try to blink his silent tears away. “We're already dying.”

For a long moment there were only ragged breaths and erratic heartbeats. Then something changed; perhaps it was the echo of the bitter truth filling the Force, perhaps it was just that their bodies were giving up. Slowly, Anakin shifted against him until their heads were level and their foreheads touched.

“It wasn’t supposed to end like this,” he murmured, defeated at last. As the sun went down, a tendril of light reached the cave, and Obi-Wan saw that his blue eyes were dry. He was too tired to even cry.

And still, through pain and grief, Obi-Wan smiled.

He had always known that there would be no happy ending waiting for them at the end of the road. And yet, somehow, he felt that this was happier than what could have been.

There would be no regrets to haunt them, no scars, no infinite sadness as only companion in a Galaxy gone dark.

He searched for Anakin’s hand, and their shaking fingers entwined.

"But it was. We were always supposed to die like this," he said softly. "Together."

**Author's Note:**

> A day may come when I write a happy Obikin, but it is not this day


End file.
